Crescent-shaped sand dunes rise and fall sharply, reaching heights of up to 100 meters (328.08 feet). The sun beats down from the sky and it is exhausting to walk.
Your boots sink deep into the northern Chilean golden sand. But it is worth it when you reach the ridges of the sand mountains near Copiapó and are rewarded with the sight of a dune landscape that never seems to end. South America's answer to the Sahara, the southern part of the Atacama Desert is known as the "Mar de Dunas" with a "sea of dunes" that spans 335 square kilometers (129.
34 square miles). At 550 meters, El Medanoso is one of the highest dunes on the continent and people grab snowboards and glide down the steep slopes, while adrenaline junkies race through the sandy mountains in four-wheel drive cars. The wind-sculpted wave patterns in the dunes could hardly be more perfect.
Most Atacama tourists are drawn to the north of the desert, to San Pedro de Atacama, but it is much quieter some 800 kilometers (497.10 miles) further south. Torres is a well-known cook in the Atacama region, famed for bringing many lost recipes from ancient desert tribes out of oblivion.
She has raised Indigenous regional cuisine to a new level and regularly joins desert tours organized by Roberto's travel agency. The Atacama is the driest place on earth beyond the polar regions, says Roberto. It is amazing that not only animals but also 200 endemic plant species can flourish in a place with so little water.
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